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Europe’s plain truth on tobacco packaging

British American Tobacco is disappointed by the rulling Facundo Arrizabalaga/EPA

An adviser to the European Court of Justice has backed rules to combat smoking by introducing plainer packaging. Juliane Kokott, the court’s advocate-general, said that the 2014 rules on packaging, which the tobacco industry opposes, raised the visibility of health warnings and made them more effective.

She also said that European Union nations were free to tighten the rules on packaging further, by moving towards plain packs with no logos.

In separate opinions, she backed EU rules on the advertising of e-cigarettes, which one producer had claimed were contrary to EU law, and dismissed a challenge to a ban on menthol cigarettes. Analysts said that the ruling on packaging was not a surprise, but any further move towards plain packets would be negative for the…

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